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NIKA2 Re-Commissioning (4th. attempt)

NIKA2 run 75, Cryo run 87

Oct. 13, 2025

14:00-17:00; Martino, Alessandro, Dave, Angel: a new sweep was performed. Previous initialization file: run87_old.ini. Bad/total KIDs counts (cryo window closed) after sweep (Ar1, Ar2, Ar3): 9/1000, 8/574, 4/1013. New file in force: run87_new.ini. Files run87_new_tp.ini and run87_new_pol.ini were also created. See nika2-a:~/nika_V3_IRAM.ini.

Oct. 14, 2025

Angel, Miguel, Stefano, and maaaany others arrive at the telescope.

We rename the ini files:
run87.ini (active file)
run87_old.ini (OLD active file, not used in August)
run87_newSweep_tp.ini
run87_newSweep_pol.ini
run87_oldSweep_tp.ini
run87_oldSweep_pol.ini

@15:00 LT (13:00 UT) we start, after preparing the whole "NIKA2 week environment architecture: 15/8/55 lost KIDs in Ar 1,2,3. Unstable sky and thick clouds coming from the N. We're entering in the peak of the tau forecast. It will be better later this evening. Meanwhile we try to focus. The old make-imbf script does not produce the imbfits files. Angel contacts Albrecht to solve the issue. The new make-imbf produces the file regularly.

On the very variable thick clouds, we notice a very different response of Ar1 and Ar3 to sky noise (variations), the latter having a bkg few times higher than the former (compare the y-axis scales). Is it real? Is there a flux calibration problem in the old DAFs? The a posteriori (19:00 LT) check does not reveal any calibration issue: Ar1 and Ar3 give similar fluxes for the targeted sources.

While we wait, some checks to some Antenna temperature control cables are being carried out by the telescope team. We start again 18:45 LT. The old make-imbf is now producing files correctly (thanks Albrecht!).

We work on the focus. Here follow our observations/notes. It is hard to get the focus value for all three arrays at once. The Ar2 flux criterion shows big jumps. The Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree. It almost seems like the flux is maximized not when the FWHM is minimized. Strange behavious, almost as if there were more than one "best" focus position. We enlarge the focus range of the 5 scans sequence. It was +/- 0.8 mm in steps of 0.4 mm. Now we changed it to +/- 1.0 mm, in steps of 0.5mm. The aim is to see if we can have a more complete sampling of the focus curve (for all criteria). The new script is called focusOTF-Z_2025.pako. We also try with a total excursion of +/-1.2 mm and steps of 0.6 mm. It seems that this latter solution is the best.

Is it possible that the difference in focus between Ar2 and Ar1 is changing? The first time it was ~0.3 mm. The second time it was ~0.6 mm. Now it is ~1.0mm??? At the same time, the focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems stable at ~0.2 mm. It's early to be worried, but let's keep an eye on this! Nope, using the +/-1.2 mm excursion, we get back to 0.6mm difference between Ar2 and Ar1. Fiuuuu.

We alternate pointing/focus obtained with the old sweep and beam maps taken with the new one. The goal is to have at least two beam maps per array, taken with the optimal focus for that same given array. In the tables below, we list: focus sequences, beam maps, calib_1scan, other relevant scans, and a book keeping of sweep changes (to be used when defining the new calibration files - PIIC DAFs, for example - for this recommissioning run).

End of the day+night summary

At the end of the day+night, we have:

• 3 beam-maps on best focus for each array;
• one de-focused beam map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm and one at plus 0.3 mm;
• one de-focused beam map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm.

In this way, we cover the whole range from Ar2-0.3 to Ar3+0.3 with 6 focus positions: Ar2-0.3, Ar2, Ar2+0.3, Ar1, Ar3, Ar3+0.3. It might turn out that we need more positions in order to determne well the three focal surfaces.

Note that the latter 2 items (in the list above) have been performed when the taumeter opacity started to increase. Nevertheless the l.o.s. peak-to-peak sky noise variations kept being ~1 Jy/beam the whole time. If these last three beam maps have issues, we'll need to perform a whole sequence of 6-7 beam-maps at different focal positions, during a very stable night, such that the reference focus does not vary across the sequence (it takes few hours, hence the very stable need.)

Impressions about the difference in focus of the three arrays. The focus difference between Ar2 and Ar1 seems to be between 0.6 and 0.7 mm. The focus difference between Ar1 and Ar3 seems to be further 0.2-0.3 mm. The total focus difference between Ar2 and Ar3 reaches up to 1.0 mm. A decent compromise might be to use the focus of Ar1 as reference, but a quantitative analysis is needed to say the last word.

Tables (from 2025/10/14 ~13:00 UT to 2025/10/15 ~4:00 UT)

• Focus sequences
  Scan nr	Target	Ar2	Ar1	Ar3	Notes
  20251014s161-165	2251+158	-0.3	+0.3	...	start at +0.2 mm; Big jumps in FWHM and flux during the focus sequence in Ar2
  167-171	2251+158	~0.0	+0.9	1.1	start at +0.6 mm; Ar2 and Ar3 based on FWHM; El~40 deg; Ar2 FWHM and flux criteria do not agree
  172-176	2251+158	-0.05	+1.0	~+1.2	start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.5 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; is the difference between Ar2 and Ar1 become larger?
  177-181	2251+158	+0.13	+0.75	+1.0	start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm; this is the best so far;
  185-189	2251+158	+0.37	+1.21	...	start at +0.7 mm; custom script with 0.6 mm step instead of 0.4 mm
  191-195	2251+158	+0.34	+1.12	+1.42	start +1.0 mm; custom
  199-203	2251+158	~+0.40	+1.15	+1.40	start +1.2 mm; custom
  208-212	2251+158	~+0.30	+1.05	+1.30	start +1.2 mm; custom
  218-222	Uranus	~+0.24	+0.85	+1.05	start at +1.0 mm; custom; Ar2 not good, jumps and different criteria not consistent to each other
  226-230	Uranus	+0.20	+0.90	+1.10	start at +0.85 mm; custom
  20251015s8-12	Uranus	+0.30	+1.00	~+1.25	start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered
  19-23	Uranus	+0.28	+0.95	~+1.25	start at +0.7 mm; custom; Ar3 focus range poorly covered
  28-32	Uranus	~+0.2	+0.95	~+1.3	start at +1.1 mm; custom; Ar2 focus range poorly covered

  Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP
  Scan Nr	Target	Focus	Notes
  20251014s183	2251+158	+0.15	Focus optimized For Ar2 @20:25 LT
  20251014s197	2251+158	+0.34	Focus optimized For Ar2 @21:30 LT
  20251014s205	2251+158	+1.40	Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT
  20251014s206	2251+158	+1.40	Focus optimized For Ar3 @22:25 LT
  20251014s214	2251+158	+1.05	Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT
  20251014s215	2251+158	+1.05	Focus optimized For Ar1 @23:40 LT
  20251014s224	Uranus	+1.05	Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10)
  20251015s1	Uranus	+0.90	Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
  20251015s14	Uranus	+0.30	Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT
  20251015s25	Uranus	+0.00	de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus minus 0.3 mm
  20251015s26	Uranus	+0.60	de-focused beam-map at the Ar2 focus plus 0.3 mm (no re-pointing done)
  20251015s34	Uranus	+1.60	de-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus plus 0.3 mm (re-pointed on the de-focused Ar3)

  Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP)
  Scan Nr	Target	Focus	Notes
  20251014s225	Uranus	+1.05	Focus optimized For Ar3 @01:12 LT (15/10)
  20251015s2	Uranus	+0.90	Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
  20251015s4	Neptune	+0.90	Focus optimized For Ar1 @01:55 LT
  20251015s15	Uranus	+0.30	Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT
  20251015s17	Neptune	+0.30	Focus optimized For Ar2 @03:20 LT

  Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP
  Scan Nr	Scan type	Target	Focus	Notes
  20251015s5	Skydip	-	-

  Book-keeping of SWEEP changes
  Scan Nr	SWEEP	Notes
  20251014s124 to s182	OLD
  20251014s183	NEW	16/4/41 lost KIDs
  20251014s184 to s196	OLD
  20251014s197	NEW	16/9/26 lost KIDS
  20251014s199 to s204	OLD
  20251014s205 to s206	NEW	9/4/16 lost KIDs
  20251014s207 to s213	OLD
  20251014s214 to s215	NEW	12/3/17 lost KIDs
  20251014s216 to s223	OLD
  20251014s224 to s225	NEW	12/4/33 lost KIDs
  20251014s226 to s231	OLD
  20251015s1 to s5	NEW	13/3/31 lost KIDs
  20251015s6 to s13	OLD
  20251015s14 to s17	NEW	10/3/34 lost KIDs
  20251015s18 to s24	OLD
  20251015s25 to s27	NEW	10/5/35 lost KIDs
  20251015s28 to s33	OLD
  20251015s34	NEW	15/6/25 lost KIDs

Dinner Time at Pico Veleta...

Oct. 15, 2025

Summary

• Starting at 6 a.m. LT, after a long night by Stefano (see above in the Oct. 14th report). De-focused beam-map at the Ar3 focus + 0.3 mm finished successfully.
• Getting pointing and focus on Uranus (old sweep). Three calib_1scans on Uranus (with focus optimized for each array) + a skydip (new sweep).

• @08:00: starting deep field observations of HLS091828 (new sweep, pointing & focus optimized Ar1, 9 x 5 sq.-arcmin scans at 4 PAs per round and 60 arcsec/s of scan speed). A total of XX rounds (YYh) were obtained. Average pwv ~7 mm. Peak-to-peak variations of raw timelines (2 mm) were between +/-1 and 5 Jy/beam (from focus sequences). Just for a quick-look checking before the creation of new RPPs, we got a single scan of HLS091828 with the old sweep (20251015s81). Screen-shots of PIIC plots are shown below:

Tables (from 2025/10/15 ~04:00 UT to 2025/10/XX ~YY UT)

• Focus sequences
  Scan nr	Target	Ar2	Ar1	Ar3	Notes
  36-40	Uranus	+0.24	+0.91	+1.16	start at +0.9 mm; custom
  47-51	Uranus	+0.25	+0.90	+1.20	start at +0.9 mm; custom
  75-79	0716+714	+0.25	+0.97	+1.20	start at +0.9 mm; custom
  100-104	0716+714	~ -0.35	+0.45	+0.77	start at +0.6 mm; custom; Ar2 range poorly covered

  Beam maps (99 sub-scans) with the NEW SWEEP
  Scan Nr	Target	Focus	Notes

  Calibrators (calib_1scan with the NEW SWEEP)
  Scan Nr	Target	Focus	Notes
  20251015s42	Uranus	+0.23	Focus optimized For Ar2 @06:59 LT
  20251015s43	Uranus	+0.91	Focus optimized For Ar1 @07:04 LT
  20251015s44	Uranus	+1.16	Focus optimized For Ar3 @07:09 LT

  Other relevant scans with the NEW SWEEP
  Scan Nr	Scan type	Target	Focus	Notes
  20251015s45	Skydip	--	--	--
  20251015s55 to s66	science maps	HLS091828	+0.90mm	Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.90mm), 3 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
  20251015s82 to s97	science maps	HLS091828	+0.97mm	Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.97mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)
  20251015s109 to s124	science maps	HLS091828	+0.45mm	Optimized for ar1 (focus +0.45mm), 4 rounds (4 scans each) deep field (@202503/observe_DeepField)

  Book-keeping of SWEEP changes
  Scan Nr	SWEEP	Notes
  20251015s35 to s41	OLD
  20251015s42 to s45	NEW	14/3/34 lost KIDs
  20251015s46 to s54	OLD
  20251015s55 to s66	NEW	18/3/32 lost KIDs
  20251015s67 to s81	OLD
  20251015s82 to s97	NEW	17/5/46 lost KIDs
  20251015s98 to s107	OLD
  20251015s109 to s124	NEW	15/3/45 lost KIDs